Miss A complained that the Council had treated her inappropriately during adoption processes and that her concerns were not appropriately addressed during the complaint process.
The Ombudsman found that the Council had not appropriately escalated Miss A’s concerns through the statutory Social Services complaint process and this caused additional frustration and uncertainty for Miss A. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without a formal investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to provide an apology to Miss A for failing to progress her concerns through the appropriate complaint process and to confirm to Miss A that the complaint would now be put to Stage 2 of the Social Services complaints procedure within two weeks.